Although seamheads have developed several exotic statistical measures that would show Juan Pierre's offense near the bottom of major league center fielders and lead-off men, it only takes a simple old-school stat — on-base percentage — to make the case. Pierre led the league in hits, as the Dodgers stress, but the goal of a lead-off guy isn't to rack up hits but to get on base. Among leadoff hitters who batted first at least 300 times last season, the Dodgers' new CF ranked #24 in on-base percentage. The Dodgers ex-leadoff hitter, Rafael Furcal, ranked #7. (Shocker: Julio Lugo ranked #5 while hitting in the top spot, mostly in Tampa Bay.)

This surprised me: Pierre moves up to #22 when the sort is on slugging percentage. With his 32 doubles and 13 triples, he jumps ahead of punchless lead-off guys like Marcus Giles and Jason Kendall. Noted: Figgins' overall OBP is .336, a little better than Pierre's .330.

Phil Wallace | Despite a MLB-record payroll, a budding a farm system, and a trade that brought in five useful players, some in the media are still upset the Dodgers didn't acquire David Price or Cole Hamels.

Jon Christensen and Mark Gold | Changes afoot at UCLA mean changes here. Mark Gold is moving on at UCLA. Peter Kareiva joins UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability as new director. And this column reboots.

The wrong-headed decision by the five Los Angeles County supervisors to consolidate power in their own hands comes at the worst possible time, just as the county is facing a homeless crisis of epic proportions.